


If we make it through december

by sallysimpsons



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 1990s, Friendship, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Pre-Canon, before christmas 1994
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27825478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sallysimpsons/pseuds/sallysimpsons
Summary: Luke runs away from home. There's only one place he can go to on this cold December night.
Relationships: Alex & Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 54





	If we make it through december

**Author's Note:**

> A little something I wrote for the jatp advent calendar over @ [yuleandthephantoms on tumblr](http://yuleandthephantoms.tumblr.com) , the prompt for day one was hot chocolate.

Luke cannot turn back now. He has never pedaled as fast as he's doing now, his guitar case strapped on his back. He doesn't even know where he is going, he wants to get away from his house as fast as possible. 

He thinks about going to the garage but no one is in there and he doesn't want to bother Bobby and his family, but he doesn't want to be alone in the garage either, as much as he wants to go there and play all night, to play all the pain away. To play that guitar he's sure it's going to change his life soon - that guitar that strained the relationship between Luke and his parents. 

He doesn’t have to think for much longer before realizing there’s only one place he can go to, on this cold, December night: a few minutes later, he's in front of Alex's house. He can see the lights of the Christmas tree flickering inside, but he can't tell if his friend is in there or not. He rings the bell and smiles, pretending it's a regular Friday night and he’s just there visiting his friend, and that he didn't just run away from home, just in case one of Alex's parents opens the door. Luckily it's Alex who’s in front of him a few seconds later. He greets Luke and doesn't even ask why he's there, he lets his friend in immediately. 

"I was in the kitchen, trying to make a hot chocolate. Do you want one?" Alex asks his friend who smiles, grateful for the warm welcome. 

"Yeah, of course. I'd never say no to a hot chocolate." 

Alex's kitchen is a place full of memories, when they were six and Luke would come over to play and Alex's mom would make them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and later when they started playing music it became one of the main spots where Luke would get inspiration to write new songs. It feels like home, and it's comforting on a night when Luke seems to have lost his compass. 

"I had a huge fight with my mom," he starts to say, unprompted, while Alex is taking the milk out of the fridge. "You know how it was lately, we were always fighting and it was - I couldn't take it anymore. I left." 

"I figured. I’m sorry." Alex is behind the stove then, pouring the milk in the pot, along with the cocoa powder. 

Luke thinks about his mom and how she would first put some of the powder along with a splash of milk in a mug, in order to avoid any lumps from forming, she would explain to Luke. He never tried the trick himself, though, because she was always the one to make it. Now he figures he will have to try the trick personally. Not tonight though, he lets Alex do his thing. Last thing Luke wants now it’s a discussion about cocoa powder lumps. 

"You can stay in my room for a couple of days, " Alex says then, distracting Luke from his thoughts. "But then my parents will probably start asking questions -" 

"I know. I'll figure something out." They're silent for a while, as Alex is stirring the mixture. Luke can hear his friend’s parents laughing in the living room. 

"Things aren't going that great in this household as well. They're barely talking to me now," Alex explains. The smell of chocolate fills up the whole room. 

"I hope they will get over it," Luke says, because he doesn't know what else to say. He has known Alex's parents for so long and he treated him like a son, and now it's so confusing: Luke started seeing them in a completely different light after Alex’s coming out. Maybe because, unlike Luke's parents, they've always been so supportive of their music and he thought that they were more open minded. In the end, they weren't that different from his own parents. 

"At this point I might just leave home too." The way Alex is saying this, makes Luke aware of the fact that his friend has been thinking about this for a while, just like he was before tonight’s fight. 

Alex is pouring the hot liquid in two Christmas mugs then, the ones that Alex's family has always used as long as Luke can remember. They're all chipped, but Alex's mom has always been so proud of them, they're like a family heirloom. For a second there he wonders if they will be Alex's one day, or if the four of them will be rascals traveling the world with no more attachments to their families. 

Alex takes the mugs and puts them on the table. Luke has always used the same one with Rudolph on it, and even on this weird night Alex hasn't forgotten about this little tradition. 

“If you leave, take the mugs with you. I’d miss Rudolph too much,” Luke jokes, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. 

“I won’t take any clothes. Just my drums and the Christmas mugs.” They both smile as they hold their mugs in their hands. “My mom usually made it so I kind of improvised. I hope it’s decent.” Luke tries to take a sip but it’s too hot, and blows on it. “Wait!” Alex stops him before his friend tries to drink it again. “I forgot the marshmallows.” 

“I can’t believe we were forgetting the marshmallows!” Luke says in an exaggerated tone. He wants to get offended by the lack of marshmallows tonight, he wants to get offended about little, inane things now. He doesn’t want to think about anything remotely serious for the rest of the night. 

Alex gets up and takes a package of marshmallows from a cupboard, ripping it open. “Here,” he says as he drops an insane amount of them in Luke’s cup, that is now filled to the brim. “Now you can drink.” Luke doesn’t dare take the cup in his hands now, afraid that the liquid will spill out, so he puts his mouth on the brim of the cup, trying to suck the liquid in. “What - what are you doing,” Alex says, shaking his head. 

“You put too many marshmallows in here!” Luke cries, as Alex starts to laugh. “What now?” 

“You have a chocolate mustache!” 

“Alex we’re not six anymore -” but Alex can’t stop laughing even after Luke has cleaned his upper lip. His friend’s laughter is contagious and so Luke starts to laugh too, grateful for the distraction, grateful for the chocolate and the marshmallows, grateful to have his best friend by his side on one of the worst nights of his life. 


End file.
